Are You a Disney Dawg?
I guess this terminology originated on the The DawgVent…www.ugasports.com. You know the type. Zippity Doo Dahz all the way through life, not even considering that there could be something wrong with our beloved Dawgs. You can’t even say a glass half full kind of person. They would insist the glass was too small to begin with.
As I have dipped my toe into Fandom and seen both sides of this equation, I have questioned which is worse, the Disney Dawg or the guy who’s never satisfied with anything but a Mythical National Championship.
Those guys can only be represented by the two old guys from the Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf. See below. Look, they are on the Dawgvent as we speak.
Statler and Waldorf want Mark Richt fired…right now. Nevermind that he has taken dramatic steps to improve our defense. The mistakes of the past can never be rectified by any measure of success.
Check the comment posted here by BuLLdawg.
Neither end of this pole is productive. We have to be realistic. You can’t put your head in the sand like a Disney, but give Coach Richt his due when he does something right. Do we have work to do? Absolutely. Work resumes today in Athens, and I can’t wait to see the product this fall. G-Day is fun, but will not give a great picture of what is to come.
Go Dawgs!
Rex, I have been abstaining from commenting for a long time, both here and in the AJC, because… well, because Richt finally did what he should have done two years ago and put the what was best for his team ahead of what was best for his personal relationship with Martinez.
I agree that Richt deserves at least another year because he did act.
HOWEVER.
I also agree that he acted far too late.
Rex, you talk about Saban and Meyer. So let’s put THEM into Richt’s shoes.
Do Saban and Meyer keep Martinez after 2008?
Do Saban and Meyer keep Martinez after 2007, when the blowout to Tennessee and the defense’s inability to stop SOUTH CAROLINA from running the ball and chewing clock in the 4th quarter kept their team from winning an MNC?
Do Saban and Meyer hand Joe Cox the QB job without ANY kind of evaluation of the talent behind him?
Do Saban and Meyer hand Joe T III the QB job when it’s obvious that Stafford is simply better, no matter the fact that he’s a true freshman?
This is what people’s biggest problem with Richt is. Richt, for the longest time, has refused to do EVERYTHING possible to win football games.
He’d rather reward legacies and team mascots with the starting QB job, only the most important position on the team because they were “loyal” Dawgs. Who cares if they were actually any good? Loyalty means more than talent to Richt.
He’d rather keep the horrible Martinez year after year because of “staff integrity” and congruency, when it because obvious as far back as 2007 that the defense was regressing under Martinez and the LBs were regressing under Jancek.
The firing of Willie Martinez is the latest I’ve ever seen the barn door closed after the horses have fled.
There was concrete evidence at the end of the 2007 season that there was something seriously rotten with Georgia’s defense, and that there had been since 2005. Yeah, we whupped up on Hawaii… big frakking deal.
But anytime a caller or an emailer or a blog poster (me) brought up the fact that through 2005, 2006, and 2007, you could chart Martinez’s defenses in disturbing ways. As giving up more points and yards per game in each successive year, for example.
Another example: missed tackles, less caused turnovers, and most embarrassingly, the insane increases in undisciplined play shown by the astounding increase under Martinez of personal foul penalties.
The defenses under Martinez were lacking in fundamentals and discipline, and we the TRUE fans were saying this as far back as 2007.
And we were derided by guys like YOUR former teammate, Buck Belue, who refused to acknowledge the truth about Martinez.
We were derided by columnists like Tony Barnhart or Chip Towers.
So we’re just supposed to congratulate Mark Richt for firing Martinez now, AFTER letting his personal relationship with Martinez basically destroy OUR football program?
I don’t think so.
What makes Saban and Meyer so great is that they refuses to let ANYTHING come between them and winning. Not their families. Not their religion. Not their friendships with their coaches. Not their personal health. NOTHING.
So Richt fires Martinez. So what? If he didn’t, he’d just as assuredly be out of a job soon enough. Every man has his limits.
But what if we hadn’t had lost to Kentucky? It’s my belief Martinez would still be here.
So out of that comes the idea that Richt really hasn’t changed.
Who wants to take early bets that the most senior of the three QBs (and the least talented) winds up the starter for game 1?
03/18/2010 at 9:47 PM
CLARION CALL FOR ALL BULLDAWG FAITHFUL
All eyes are on Athens this summer. We are watching.
Hey Rex,
We admire and respect you, and do not wish to provoke a fight with you.
I don’t want to fire CMR, but I believe 2010 is the make or break year for the current coaches and leadership of the football and athletics programs.
We love the Univ of Georgia, and believe we CAN win conference and national championships.
UGA has everything necessary (and more) to get there…..Except the right leadership.
We CAN compete consistently in the Top 5, which is required for nc game.
We CAN do it.
Damon Evans talks often about competing for championships. Does anyone think he is talking only about the conference?
The players talk about the national championship.
If the AD and the players expect it and dream it, why can’t the fans?
YES SIR, we do expect conf and national championships.
Middle of the SEC east will not be tolerated.
You denounce the idea of a groundswell of fan frustration and anger?
How can you scoff at reality?
Have you forgotten the tsunami of discontent which began 2 years ago?
This groundswell grew even larger and louder last year, beginning with the sickening OKST loss to begin the year. Only a handful of plays saved us from 5-7 last year.
Please do not delude yourself that this groundswell has ended.
UGA fans have been distracted with the holidays and are now digging out of the cruel winter.
Believe me, the groundswell of discontent with CMR and CMB (Mike Bobo) is still here.
And now there are rumblings about Damon Evans.
We love CMR and CMB and DE, but the Univ of Georgia comes first, before any personalities.
Does anyone think a few new defensive coaches will solve and repair all the other leadership problems?
I cannot believe what I have heard quoted by CMR and DE over the last few days.
We still have a culture of leadership confusion, complacency, and deficiency.
I can remind you of dozens of specific examples, but lets remember just one: Richard Samuel.
Have you forgotten this monumental coaching catastrophe?
Please name any other D-1 powers who list an unproven unknown fumble-prone linebacker as their starting tailback to begin the season?
Excuse me, but this is the Univ of Georgia, Tailback U.
We have a gloried, storied tradition of exceptional running backs who honored and distinguished themselves and the university.
The brilliant decision to start Samuel at tailback sullied and tarnished the memory of all the greats who brought glory to the running game and fame to our program.
Please don’t get me wrong, I like Richard Samuel, I am not criticizing Samuel, I am sure he is a wonderful kid who might be able to earn his scholarship and help us.
Our current coaches created this humiliating disaster, and the whole world wonders just what is going on in Athens.
Want more?
Rex, what is holding us back?….only the fears and limitations within our own minds.
All I hear are those who defend why we CANNOT win.
Don’t throw in with those who continue to cry and say we cant do it this year or next, we need many more years….
Does every kid on our roster know this is THE most important summer of their lives?
If Bama can do it, UGA can.
Bama went UNDEFEATED during the regular season 2 years in a row!
If OK can play in several nc games, we can.
If OHIOST can play in several nc games, we can.
If LSU can win 2 nc, we can.
If the hated Gators can do it, we can.
Beware the poverty of lame excuses.
Beware the cancer of complacency.
Count the costs of indecision.
UGA can and must win championships. Now.
NO MORE EXCUSES. We must play in the conf champ game Dec 4. Period.
We can and must fight our way back to the Top 5.
This begins now, March 2010, with the focus on an undefeated season.
NO MORE EXCUSES.
YES SIR, we do expect a national championship.
NO EXCUSES.
We are watching and waiting for leadership excellence.
03/18/2010 at 2:22 PM
Hey Rex,
buLLdawg is correct.
Rex, you are incorrect and need to listen, please.
Why do you and other bloggers/journalists denounce and marginalize true Dawg fans who question the leadership in Athens with objective facts?
EVERYONE is judged and evaluated on our record, Rex.
There is a groundswell of the Dawgnation to replace the football leadership mediocrity with new blood, new motivation, new teaching, new direction.
We have seen the direction of the current leadership and this is not acceptable. Direction? their direction is regression, as a program we are going backwards!
We changed defensive coaches 2 years too late.
We are cautiously optimistic with Grantham, but we have no results yet to praise him.
HOW MANY YEARS DO COACHES HAVE TO PRODUCE CHAMPIONSHIPS?
We love CMR, but he has presided over a mediocre program.
We know Bobo is in over his head.
Leadership starts at the top, and Damon Evans must be evaluated with objective facts and replaced by an aggressive leader who will not tolerate losing.
We dont care that Evans won the national championship of negotiating TV contracts.
Rex, look at the record, the stats, and the facts.
Mediocrity will not be tolerated.
We gave CMR and Evans many years of support.
They had their chances.
How many chances did Goff and Donnan have?
03/18/2010 at 7:59 AM
Groundswell? Really? People who reside in the margins put themselves there. I criticize Coach Richt when I think it’s warranted. I have been blasted here, on the Junkyard Blawg and on the Dawgvent for doing so. As a former player I have to temper my criticisms somewhat but as I’ve stated here before, if I’m going to do this blog, I’m going to be honest.
You must be one of those that only accepts MNC’s, because Richt has been to three SECC games and won two. He just happens to be coaching in the same conference simultaneously with what might be two of the best head coaches of this generation(Saban and Meyer). I guess that means he sucks.
No…90 wins in 9 years does NOT suck. If the off-season moves to enhance our defensive staff don’t translate into more victories. IF we continue to be near the bottom of national turnover and penalty stats and we don’t get back to Atlanta in the next couple of years, then let’s talk.
The slide since 2005 is not acceptable, but CMR has finally acted. Now let’s see what happens.
03/18/2010 at 9:54 AM
JenniferfromLaJolla and Dbalcer say it like fans. Jennifer, I threw my stepdaughter a wedding at the Sheraton adjoining Torrey Pines in LaJolla. Consulted in the area, met my wife on a blind date at Torrey Pines and now e-mail a few friends in the area. Where were you when I bored people with southern-accented Dawg talk in San Diego? Never met a Dawg fan there, but left a few anyway.
The rant by BuLLdawg should have switched on a light. He is NOT a Dawg fan. He has lengthened his diatribe for months by pushing a stored memory and adding another line. He isn’t a fan and shouldn’t get the space you afford him. If you read other blogs, you would see his pattern. He had a modicum of success in his “Free Willy” diatribes and he continues to try to drag fans into negative rants about the team and coaches. You should have looked further with other blogs before you cited him. He is AGAINST the Georgia Bulldogs, but since he puts on a Dawg appearance with name and data to lure us, we always give him the benefit as a drug induced negative fan. He ain’t a fan–not even a bad one.
03/17/2010 at 7:30 PM
Like I mentioned, I waited several days before approving that post. I don’t want to have the reputation of censoring dissenting voices. Thanks for the heads up though.
03/17/2010 at 7:59 PM
07 01 2004 Richard Seymour DT suspended 1 game stole long distance
How many Super Bowl rings did Seymour have at the time of this suspension?
Just sayin’.
03/17/2010 at 7:54 AM
Good eye Bernie…I couldn’t read all that _____.
03/17/2010 at 8:02 AM
As I’ve said on the blogs before, I don’t really understand the term disneydawg. I have to hope the dawgs will be good, or I can’t watch them. And not watching them is not an option!!
03/16/2010 at 11:12 PM
Well said! Good post.
03/16/2010 at 9:57 PM
1. Many of us (most?) are fans because we grew up as Georgia fans and went to school there (in my case, both).
2. Almost none of us have the wherewithal to make a difference in coaching staff decisions, player recruitment or development, player position management, or scheduling. Even for those of us who make financial contributions to the program do not make contributions large enough for our opinions to be influential. (And I seriously doubt Mr. Yoculan spends a lot of time on message boards.)
3. We are fans, one might assume, because we enjoy the experience.
4. We will be disappointed, saddened, and/or frustrated from time to time by game outcomes or Butts-Mehre decisions.
5. In my case, because of the power of 1, above, no degree of 4, above, can destroy 3, above; others, apparently get an enjoyment out of stewing and complaining, and that’s just part of their fan experience. If I had that much anger, I’d find something else to enjoy. But that’s just me.
03/16/2010 at 6:56 PM
I believe we must always consider the source. If one is as forthcoming with praise as scorn, I tend to give them more credence. There is nothing wrong with calling it like you see it, as long as you are seeing everything.
Unfortunately, some only see one side.
I know you are a homer, as well, Rex. Your post on John Fabris and corner-licking carried far more weight due to the fact you do not make a sport of ripping the program.
03/16/2010 at 5:13 PM
I want to add I think some of the negative comments are by internet trolls who are fans of other teams and want to stir things up so UGA fans look bad. Unfortunately some blogs don’t require use of the same screen name and email address so the same person can post numerous comments with different aliases and it looks like a large number of fans is unhappy. I wish the AJC would moderate their comments like you do.
03/16/2010 at 4:58 PM
I would rather be a Disney Dawg than one who is never satisfied. I don’t understand those who want Richt gone now. Who would ever want to coach at a school who ran off a winner like Richt. I prefer to look for the best in our players and coaches. I hope Richt can shut up those negative nellies this year with a great season.
03/16/2010 at 4:54 PM
That list of CMR’s supposed sins as been posted to my blog comments a couple of times. I have decided to delete the crazies if profane and ignore them otherwise.
Enjoy your work.
03/16/2010 at 4:43 PM
I try not to censor too much, but it took me about 3 days to approve that comment.
03/16/2010 at 4:55 PM
I am a dizzy Dawg. Goofy’s shirt and hat is making me a bit nauseous.
It will be what it is. I will root my heart out regardless. I will feel proud at times though I am not, (nor have I ever) playing for UGA. And I will be ticked at times too. Really ticked. If I am really lucky, I’ll get to feel more of the former and less of the latter. And I’ll get to enjoy a few games with like minded folks–all the way on this side of the country. Can’t wait!
03/16/2010 at 4:31 PM